Hinge



May 14, 1940.- H.'E'. m IVOORHIEES' 2,200.311

Original Filed larch 1 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 a i I.

y 1940- I H. E. VAN. VOQRHIEES 2,200,311

rmms I Original Filed larch 1, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet z I I I Patented May14,

PATENT OFFICE aztosu HINQE Harold E. Van Voorhees, to The Atwood Vacnuco-partnership com and James T. Atwood,

Detroit, Mich, assignor m Machine Company, a of Seth B. Atwood Rockford,111.

A p ication March 1,- 1937, Serial No. 128,356 Renewed December 18.1939' 15 Claims. (01. lit-135) This invention relates to improvements inconcealed hinges for the doors of. motor vehicles.

It is common practice to use exposed hinges of the pintle type inmounting doors on motor vehicles. Due to the curvature of the bodies andthe amount of deviation from standard body specifications occurring inquantity production, there has been considerable difliculty in mounting.these pintle hinges, and it has been customary to apply forked bars orother tools to thehinges and bend them enough to center the doors andalign them relative to one another and to the body. This bending hasbeen tolerated because no other way of meeting the problem has suggesteditself, although it is apparent that pintles were thereby thrown outoi'alignment,

1 resulting in the doors not opening and closing as they should. Also,it is that most of the wear on pintles, and the consequent play and doorrattling, is directly traceable to this practice of bending the hingesto make the doors fit. It should be obvious that, great as the problemwas with exposed hinges,

the difilculties would be multiplied if concealed pintle hinges wereused. Nevertheless, now that I automobile bodies are being madeofstreamline vide concealed hinges. It

, the ball received in the socket is provided, prefdesign, it becomesincreasingly important to prois, therefore, the principal object of myinvention to provide a pair of ball-and-socket type concealed hinges ofimproved design on each door of a motor vehicle, whereby to secure easyoperation of the door without any of the aforesaid difiiculties in themounting of the door on the body, whatever bending'or twisting of thehinges is necessary for door alignment having no effect whatever on theeasy working of the doors. because the individual balls workinguniversally in the sockets provide point suspensions, and. the twopoints at the two hinges determine the hinging axis of the door.

Other important objects of my invention are: 1. To provide a concealedhinge in which one member carries the socket and is slotted to provideworking clearance for the gooseneck portion of the othermember on theend of which erably as an integral enlargement;

2. To provide a concealed hinge of the balland-socket type in which thesocket member is made up of sections, part. of the socket being formedon one section and the rest on another section, and the sections beingmade to inter-fit to provide an accurate bearing for the ball;

3. To provide a concealed hinge of the ballgenerally conceded nated andan automatic take-up for wear secured;

4. To provide a hinge of the kind mentioned having rubber or othercushioning means limiting the opening of the door;

5. To provide a socket member of the kind mentioned made up of twopieces or L-shaped cross-section. one arm of which forms the attachingportion in a plane parallel to the edge of the door and the otherportion carrying the socket in laterally spaced relation to the dooropening, the portion of the latter arm next to the bend between the twoarms serving as a limiting stop for abutment by the gooseneck andadapted to carry the bumper last mentioned, and

6. To provide a hinge of the construction last described in which theL-shaped pieces are slotted for extension therethrough of the gooseneckand at least the inner piece is flanged alongside the slot forreenforcement.

Other important objects will appear in the I course of the followingdescription in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings,wherein a Figure 1 is a horizontal section through a portion of a doorpillar and door showing a concealed ball-and-socket type hinge made inaccordance with my invention, this section being on the line L-l of Fig.2;,

Fi 2 isa vertical section Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are isolated plan and front views of a gooseneck hingemember of modified form;

Fig. 5 is a front view of the retaining plate for said gooseneck member,this view being taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 5a is a fragmentary side view of an automobile showing how thedoors thereof appear when equipped with concealed hinges of the presentinvention;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing another concealed hinge oithe ball-and-socket Fig. 6a is a section on the'line A-A in Fig. 6. Fig.'7 is a ,of Fig. 6;

on the line 2-2 or vertical section on'the line 1-1 I Fig.8 is "anothervertical section similar to Fig. 7, but showing a differentconstruction; Figs. 9 and 10 are face views of the sections of thesocket member of Figs. 6 and 7', Fig. 9.being a View of the socketsection formed integral with the door pillar or door, and Fig. '10 aninside view of the companionplate;

Fig. 11 "is a sectional method of fastening the shank of the gooseneckrespectively, or vice versa. 'The gooseneck memmember to its attachingplate, and Fig. 12 is a back view of the attaching plate showingtheflattened end of the shank attached thereto;

1 Fig. 13 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 6, showing still anotherconcealed hinge of the ball-and socket type, the same however beingshown in.

elevation;

Fig. 14 shows the same hinge in the door open; I v

Fig. 15 is a front view of the hinge of Fig. 13; Fig. 16 is 'a sideviewshowing the shank of the gooseneck in section on the line l6-l6.ofFig. 15;

Fig. 17 is a section similar to Fig. 14, but showing the addition of arubber bumper, and

Fig. 18 is a sectional detail on the line l8- i8- Similar referencenumerals are appliedto corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring first to Figs. Land 2, l9 designates the pillar and 20 thedoor frame or door portion, but it will .soon be evident that it isimmaterial whether the socket member *2 and gooseneck member 22 of myimproved ball-andsocket hin e. are mounted on the pillar and door.

ber. 22 is preferably formed in one piece to providea generallyJ-shapedshank 23 terminating in a ball head 24'formed as, an integral enlarge'ment of the end thereof. This shank is substantially round incross-section and of gradually increasing diameter from the head end tothe other end, where an enlarged-flattened pad portion 25 is formedintegral with the shank and ina plane'substantially at right angles tothe the socket through the hole 34 in the wall of the boss 3|, and theslot 32-33 communicates with one side of the hole.34 and is .wideenoughto accommodate the shank", of the gooseneck member 22 throughout itsrange of approximately 90 movement or shaped as the slot 32" in Fig. 9.A companionplate 35 has abut inent with the plate 29 and there areregisteringholes 36 in these two plates through .which capfs jc ews likethe screws 21 are passed to fasten thesocket member 2| to thereenforeing anate 31 in the pillar l9. The'plate 31 has te 35 isslotted, as at 38, in register with the 'slot 32, and the anchor plate31 is likewise slotted, as at 39', for registration with the slot 32 andalso to accommodate the projecting boss 3|,

whereby to provide operating clearance through the assembled parts forthe gooseneck member A block 40 with a hemispherical socket M5,

22. provided in the end thereof fits in a counterbore detail showinganother section with The bles' therein similarly as the plate 28.

42 in the boss 3| that is preferably tapered, as indicated in Fig. 2, tomatch the taper of the block 40 and make for a tight wedging fit betweenthe parts when the plates 23 and 35 are bolted together to" the pillar.Such interfitting also insures the desired accurate relationship of thesockets 30 and;;4 l 1s 0 that the ball head 24 will operatewith=-substantially the same fit in both parts of its socket. One sideof the block 40 is cut away, as at .43, in register with the slot 33,whereby to give additional operatingclear ance for the gooseneck member22 and allow full 90 movement of the door 20 relative to the pillar i9.;."1,he block 40 has a reduced shank portion fitting inqa 'hole 45 inthe plate 3'5, and

the end of the shank is upset to permanently secure the block to theplate in the'tapered counterbore provided at the-end of the hole 45.'The fact that a separate block 40 is used makes it possible to providea hardened steel bearing at low cost. It will be noticed that thisbearing block provides the major portion of the socket bearing" portionthereon. An oil hole 46 in the plate/35 registers with an oil hole 41 inthe plate 23extending to the socket 30'at a point adjacent the inner endof the block 40, so that oil is' delivered simul taneously to bothhalvesof the socket for good lubrication. h I

It should' be clear from the above description that I have provided aconcealed ball-and-socket' hinge for the doors of motorvehicles of anextremely practical and commercially feasible 'design and construction,inasmuch as it can be produced at a low enough cost to be competitivewith the old style pintle hinges, and its design is such that it lendsitself to easy assemblingon the doors and pillars of cars as nowconstructed. Two such hinges, as at-A and B in Fig. 5a, will be providedon each door, and with reasonable accuracy in the location of the tappedholes in the plates 28 and 31 the door will fit fairly accurately andoperate easily as soon as the hinges are fastened in place. However,thework man in'the assembly line at the automobile factory may useatoolto bend or twist the gooseT neck 22 of either or both hinges tobring the ball 24 on either or both hinges closer or farther from thedoor, 'or-above or below the normal substantially horizontal plane ofthe gooseneck, or forwardly or rearwardly from its initial'position,

whereby to accordingly adjust the door in the.

door opening in the'centering and aligning of the door with reference tothe body. Whatever bending ortwisting of the hinges is necessary 'tosecure good door alignment and centering,

cannot affect the easy operation of the hinges, because the ball heads24 swivelled in their sockets for universal movement each'determines asingle'point suspension, and it is obviousthat the two points thus fixedare sufllcient to determine the hinging axis of the door in a planeinwardly spaced from the curved outside surfaces of thedoor andbody'portions. These hinges, for obvious reasons, make the door swinguniformly smoothly throughout its ran e of opening. It

will be noted that the sockets are just inside the movement and'insuresample clearance between the door and the curved outside of the body. fHinges of this construction will not bind nor' develop play and giverise to door'rattling like the old style pintle hinges, because, asstated be-' fore, most of the wear on hinge knuckles, and pintles wasdue to misalignment resulting from bending the hinges to produce dooralignment. Furthermore, these ball-and-socket hinges aflord a much lowerunit bearing pressure than the old style pintle hinges; so that wear isgreatly reduced and longer life assured.

Referring to Figs. 3 to 5, thegooseneckmem ber 22a and retaining plate25a'may be substituted in Figs. 1 and 2 for the one-piece goose neckmember 22 with its integral bolting pad 25. In this case, the shank 22ahaving the ball head 24 on one end, has the other end flattened tonarrow elongated form, as at 18, to flt snugly in a recess 49 formed inthe bottom of the plate 25a and defined by the struck-up middle portion50 of said plate. Holes ii in the marginal portions of the plate areprovided to receive cap screws like the screws 21 previously mentioned,whereby to fasten the gooseneck member securely to the door or pillar,as the case may be. The operation of a hinge with the gooseneck memberconstructed'along these lines would be the same,

of course, as one having the gooseneck member constructed along thelines shown in Fig. 2.

Figs. "11- and 12 show still another gooseneck construction in which theshank 23b of the gooseneck member 22b has a reduced flattenedrectangular end 52 made to fit snugly in ,a rectangular hole 53 in aplate 25b. These two parts are then arranged tovbe fastenedperxnanentlytogether by welding along the joint lines, as at 54.

Stil another mode of connection between the shank of the gooseneck andthe attaching plate 25 therefor is shown in Figs. 6 and 6:: wherein theooseneck member" 220 has the end of its shank 220 provided withdiametrically opposed flats 55 to enter a correspondingly shaped hole 56in the attaching plate 250, so as to prevent turning of the shankrelative to the plate while at the same time providing a pair ofshoulders 51 next to the flattened end portion to permit tightening thenut 58 on the reduced threaded end 59 of the shank to fasten the shanksecurely to the plate, and incidentally also help to secure the plate tothe door, although of course other additional cap screws or the likewill be provided for that purpose.

The construction disclosed in Figs. 6, 7, 9, and

-10 is mainly of interest from the standpoint that it discloses asectional socket member 2la differing from the socket 2| of Figs. 1 and2, principally in that the wall or body 29a corresponding to the plate29 of the other construction is integral with the pillar, as indicatedat 60, and

has an annular flange 6| outlining the slot 32a to give increasedstiffness and strength to make up for the absence of a separate plate onthe pillar. The flared or tapered shape of the slot 32a permits acorrespondingly increased latitude of adjustment of the gooseneck in themounting of the door, it being apparent from this view how the gooseneckmay be cooked up or down' from a mid position in the slot withoutinterfering with its swinging movement in the opening and closing of thedoor and without interfering with the ball working freely in the socket.3la is the wall of the socket 30a formed integral with the pillar, asshown, and it will be observed that the flange BI is continued to form areenforcing collar around the opening a into the socket through whichthe gooseneck 23c extends from the ball head 24. A plate 35a formed withan embossed portion 40a providing a hemispherical socket portion llatherein is fastened to the pillar by bolts or rivets enteredthrough theregistering holes-36a in the plate and pillar. The boss 40a fits withample clearance in the recess 42a adjacent the socket .30a,.and thearrangement is such that the perforated marginal portions of the platewhere the bolts or rivets pass through are also spaced a few thousandthsof an inch from the wall of the pillar before the bolts are tightened orthe rivets upset. Thus, in the tightening of the bolts or the upsettingof therivets, these marginal perforated portions of the plate 35a willbe drawn into tight -engagement with the wall of the pillar, asindicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 7, whereby to accordingly springthe plate and thereby place the ball head 24 under a predeterminedspring tension, not suii'icient to interfere with the more or less freeoperation of 'the door, but still enough to eliminate any likelihood ofthe ball developing play in the socket after the hinge has been inservice for some time. In that way, there is no likelihood of the doorrattling. Furthermore, if the ball has been finished reasonably smoothbut the socket parts are relatively rough sheet metal stampings, thisconstruction makes suiiicient allowance for the ball wearing itself in;that is to say, it is equivalent to a lapping action in which theroughness of the socket parts and such roughness as still remains on theball at the time of assembly are ,wom smooth soon after the hinge is inservice, but the allowance for such wear is more than enough to preventplay being developed. The lapped'surfaces give a long lii'ed, easyworking bearing. The plate 35a is cut away on the inside next to thesocket Ma, as at 62, in register with the slot 32a to give additionalworking clearance for the nooseneck 230. 46a is an oil hole in the plate35a through which the socket 3lia-4ia. can

be lubricated from they outside of the pillar similarlyas in the hingeof Figs. 1 and 2. The operation of this hinge is substantially the sameas the hinge previously described.

Fig. 8 shows a construction similar to Figs. 6 and 7, but modified intwo. respects, the first being that the plate 35b has its embossedportion 40b fitting with a wedging fit in the recess 42b when the rivets63 are upset. The'body 29b of socket 2lb like the body 29a is formedintegral with the pillar, and the socket 30b therein is in accurateregistration with the socket Mb in the plate when the two parts areriveted together, as shown, the ball head 24 fitting snugly in thesocket so as not to cause door rattling. The.

of Fig. 8 will operate substantially like the hinges of Figs. 1 and 6.

Referring now to Figs. 13 to 16, the hinge I shown here resembles thatshown in Figs. 1 and 2, because the plates 29d and 35d are assembledtogether to form the socket member 2 Id. However, inthis case, the twoplates are sheet metal stampings of right angle form providing abuttingattaching portions 66 and 61 parallel to the edge h of thedoor throughwhich bolts or cap screws 68 are passed to secure the hinge to thepillar I9 by means of an inner reenforcing anchor plate 69 having tappedholes to receive the bolts or screws. The other portions I0 and Iiwherein the ball socket isformed are at right angles to the attachingportions 66 and 61, respectively, and lie in a plane substantiallyparallel to the outside of the body, and the plate 2911 has asubstantially hemispherical socket portion 3ld formed thereon as ahollow boss projecting from the plane of the flange I0, while the plated' has a hemispherical socket d registering with the socket 3ld andformed in a boss projecting from the plane of the flange II. An inturnedflange Bid is formed on the plate 29d defining the slot 32d andaffording reenforcement for the socket member Zld. This flange 6Id, itwill be noticed, is continued around the hole 3412 through which thegooseneck 23d extends from the ball head. 24 in the socket. Thegooseneck member operates with ample working clearance in the slot 32dand the registering slot 38d in the plate 35d and it will be noticedthat the plate 35d has a half round or trough-shaped boss 12 struckfrom. the plane of the portion II and extending from the socket portionid to provide additional working clearance as well as a limiting stopfor the gooseneck member so that the door can open through a full 90.Rivets 13 are shown passed through registering holes in the portions 10and II to join the plates 29d and 35d together in radially spacedrelation to the socket. This is in keeping with an important object ofthe invention to provide a predetermined spring tension between thesections of the socket so that the ball head operating in the socket isgripped resiliently and play is eliminated and an automatic take-up forwear secured. It requires very little distortion of the flanges 10 and,II when they are riveted together to provide enough spring tension forthe purposes stated. The ball head I struction, aside from its economy,is the fact that it is more compact than the designs of Figs. 1 and 6and permits the use of a gooseneck with a simple'right-angle bendtherein and still provides the desired range of door movement. Thecompact construction will obviously permit application of the hinge tobodies having shorter width pillars. There is also an advantage in thisconstruction from the standpoint of easier lubrication, easy access tothe socket being afforded when the door is opened, as should be clearfrom Fig. 14.

The construction of Figs. 17 and 18 is like that of Figs. 13 to 16,except that a deeper recess is afforded next to the socket in the bossI2, and this recess is of channel-shaped cross-section, as indicated inFig. 18, and houses a rubberbumper block 14 arranged to be engaged bythe gooseneck member 23d at the limit of the opening movement of thedoor. In that way, the opening of the door can be checked without othercheck means being required, or, if desired, the rubberbumpers may beprovided simply to relieve the check straps or other check meansprovided from excess shock and strain. The bumper block-14 has a head'15, the reduced neck of which fits in the hole 16 in the wall of theboss 12' to retain the block in place, and of course it is obvious thatthe block buttons in place similarly as door bumpers are mounted on thedoor frame.

It'is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn with a view to covering all legitimate modifications andadaptations.

I claim: r i

1. A ball-and-socket hinge for mounting a door on a vehicle bodycomprisinga generally L-shaped socket member with attaching flangesonone leg of the L for securing the same to one of said door and bodyand a socket in the other leg of said L, and a generallyL-shaped-ballended gooseneck member having its legs in transverserelation to the legs of the socket member inthe closed position of thedoor, said gooseneck member having atone end of one leg of the L aball-and-socket connection with the socket member and adapted to besecured at its other end to the other .of said door and body.

2. A hinge as set forth in claim 1, wherein the socket member comprisestwo nested L-shaped plates, each of said plates being formed to providea socket portion thereon,- and the plates when nested having the socketportions in register'to receive the ball end of the gooseneck member.

3. Ahinge as set forth in claim 1,- wherein the socket member comprisestwo nested 'L-shaped plates, each of said plates being formed to providea socket portion thereon, the'plates when Y nested having the socketportions in register to receive the ball end of the gooseneck member,and said plates being furthermore slotted in register with one anotherin the p'ortionsat right angles to the socket portions to provideworking'clearance therein for the gooseneck member.

4. A- hinge as set forth in claim 1, wherein the socket member comprisestwo nested L-shaped plates, each'of said plates being formed to providea socket portion thereon, theplates when nested having the socketportions in register to receive. theball end of the gooseneck member,said plates being furthermore'slotted in register with one another inthe portions atright angles 1 to the socket portions to provide workingclearance therein for the gooseneck member, and at least one of saidplates having a flange defining the slot therein, the flange extendingto and being integral with the socket portion of said plate whereby toreenforce the socket member. 5. A hinge as set forth in claim 1, whereinthe socket member comprises two nested L-shaped plates, each of saidplates being formed to provide a socket portion thereon, the plateswhen'nested having the socket portions in register to receive the ballend of the gooseneck membensaid plates -being furthermore slotted inregister with one,

another in the portions at right angles to the socket portions toprovide working clearance therein for the gooseneck member, and theouter plate having an outwardly bent'hollow rib portion extending fromthe socket portion in the plane of the slot arranged to receive andprovide additional working clearance for the gooseneck member at thelimit of the door opening movement.

6. A hinge as set forthin claim 1, wherein the socket member comprisestwo nested L,-shaped plates,eaoh of said plates beingformed to provide asocket portion thereon, the plates when nested having thesocketportionsin register to with one another in the portions at right angles to thesocket portions to provide working clearance therein for the gooseneckmember, the outer plate having an outwardly bent hollow rib portionextending from the socket portion in the shaped plates conformed toprovide a ball socket therebetween on the one leg of the L, and havingregistering slots in the other leg of the L, said plates also havingregistering holes provided therein in the latter leg of the L adapted toreceive fastening means for fastening the hinge to a door pillar, and anL-shaped gooseneck having a ball end fitting movably in the socket andmeans for securing the other end to a door to be hinged. I

8. A ball-and-socket hinge for mounting a doo I on a vehicle body,comprising a two-piece generally L-shaped socket member having the twopieces thereof conformed to provide a ball socket therebetween on theone leg of the L and having a slot in the other leg of the Lcommunicating with one side of the socket, the latter leg of the L alsohaving openings provided therein adapted to receive fastening means formounting said hinge on the body, and an L-shaped gooseneck memberworking in the slot of the socket member having a ball end swiveledinthe socket,

and means for securing the other end to the door to be hinged.

9. A hinge as set forth in claim 8, wherein one piece of the socketmember has a generally L- shaped reenforcing flange extending lengthwiseof the attaching leg of the socket member alongside the slot therein andthen transversely along the other leg of the socket member around thesocket portion.

10. A hinge as set forth in claim 8, wherein the socket portion in onepiece of the socket member has an opening provided in the wall thereofthrough which the ball end of the gooseneck member extends, said openingcommunicating on one side with one end of the slot in the attachingportion of said piece, and said piece having a continuous reenforcingflange provided thereon projecting from the inner side thereof alongboth sides of the slot in the attaching portion of said piece and then Itransversely and around the aforesaid opening in the socket portion.

11. A hinge of the character described comprising an L-shaped plateconformed to provide a half of a ball socket on one leg of the L and alongitudinal slot in the other leg of the L communicating at one endwith an opening provided in the wall of the socket portion, the slottedleg of the L being adapted to be secured to a vehicle body adjacent adoor to be hinged, another plate conformed to provide the other half ofa ball socket, an L,-shaped gooseneck having a ball end entered in thesocket between said plates with the gooseneck extending through theopening in the wall of the first-mentioned socket portion and outthrough the aforesaid slot, means for securing the other end of saidgooseneck to the door to be hinged, and means for securing the aforesaidplates togetherretaining the ball end of the gooseneck therebetween.

12. A hinge as set forth in claim 11, wherein the plates are formed fromsheet metal and wherein the means for fastening said plates togetherserve to draw the plates together at points radially spaced with respectto the outside of the socketso that a predetermined spring tension isset up between the plates causing the ball end of the gooseneck to begripped resiliently to eliminate play and provide take-up for wear.

13. A hinge as set forth in claim 11, wherein the first -mentioned platehas a continuous L- shaped reenforcing flange projecting inwardlytherefrom defining the sides of the slot and socket opening.

14. A hinge as set forth in claim 11, wherein the second plate is formedto provide a channel portion extending radially from the socket portionand communicating with the lower end of the slot in the other plateadapted to receive and provide'additional working clearance for thegooseneck at the limit of door opening movement.

15. A hinge as set forth in claim- 11, wherein the second plate isformed to provide a channel portion extending radially from the socketportion and communicating with the lower end of the slot in the otherplate adapted to receive and provide additional working clearance. forthe gooseneck at the limit of door opening movement, the hinge includinga bumper of resilient material disposed in said channel and arranged tobe engaged by the gooseneck at the limit of its movement.

HAROLD E. VAN VOORHEES.

